Too often young people with illness hear, "you're too young to be that sick." Uh.... no. Unfortunately, one is never too young to be sick.
San Diego, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/10/2008 -- “You’re much too young to be so ill!? “Well, don’t look better! I’m so glad you’re illness has passed.” “Hey, let’s go to the football game on Saturday and then afterwards there is a party you just have to come to!” “You’re in the hospital again? What’s wrong now?”
If you are in your twenties or thirties, chances are you’ve heard a few of those comments and felt a twinge of awareness of just how different life is at twenty-five with an illness versus being twenty-five and being healthy.
National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is featuring twenty free online seminars this week, September 8-14, 2008, to encourage those who live with illness, and provide tools in learning how to best manage their illness, including some of those emotions that come with it. Each 45-minute seminar will be live via Blog Talk Radio at www.invisibleillnessconference.com.
National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is honored to have some of the best chronic illness advocates—who happen to be under the age of forty—participating in their guest line up.
“Overcoming Self-Defeating Behaviors” will be presented by Jenny Prokopy, founder of ChronicBabe.com, a web site that reaches thousands of women with message of hope, teaching them how to maintain a sense of self despite health-related limitations. “I love helping others,” says Jenni, “and I know I have a commanding message of hope and inspiration to share.” (Wednesday, Sept 10, 12 p.m. pacific)
“Friendships, Dating and Marriage: Can it All Come Together When You are Young and Chronically Ill” is a workshop not to be missed! Laurie Edwards, author of the new book, “Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties” (Walker) is also the founder of AChronicDose.com. She teaches writing for the health professions at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Living with illness since her childhood, she gives a unique perspective to everything from dating to the struggle to emotionally separate from her parents. (Friday, Sept 12, 3 p.m., pacific)
Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 24, founder of Invisible Illness Week, Lisa Copen sees these workshops as a vital part of reaching out to the needs of the chronically ill. “When I was diagnosed and attending support groups, everyone I met who had arthritis was in their sixties or older. It felt very lonely, as well as difficult to make life-altering decisions about careers, marriage and more, all with the new influence of an unpredictable illness.”
All seminars will be hosted via Blog Talk Radio for forty-five minutes, and listeners can call in with questions during the last fifteen minutes. See dates and times for additional seminars at www.invisibleillness.com, which will be recorded and archived.
Many guests have donated free items or services, which will be given away in prize drawings. Bloggers are invited to participate by blogging on invisible illness topics September 8-12, 2008 and to download the “I’m blogging for Invisible Illness Awareness” badge from http://www.invisbleillnessblog.com .
National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week was launched in 2002 by Lisa Copen, author of “Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend.” It is held annually in September and is sponsored by Rest Ministries, Inc., the largest Christian organization that serve the chronically ill.